June Jones, coach behind Hawaii’s unbeaten season, dies at 73
June Jones, the former Hawaii and Southern Methodist University football coach, died in Oregon aged 73. His passing attack helped Hawaii reach an unbeaten regular season and the Sugar Bowl in 2007. Southern Methodist University also paid tribute to the coach who ended its long absence from bowl games after taking charge in 2008.
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Hawaii and SMU mourn their former coach
June Jones, the former head coach of the University of Hawaii and Southern Methodist University football teams, died in Oregon on 29 October aged 73. Hawaii’s athletics department announced his death, while his company, Run and Shoot Certification, also confirmed it. Jones had led the Atlanta Falcons in the National Football League, the US professional American football league. He was known for the run-and-shoot offense, a passing-based attack associated with his college teams. His connection with Hawaii began as a player: he transferred from Oregon in 1973 to play quarterback for the Rainbow Warriors, the university’s team. He later returned to the same programme as head coach.[1], [2]
An unbeaten season capped his Hawaii years
Jones took charge of Hawaii in 1999 after the team had lost all 12 games of the previous season. His first side won nine games, lost four and won the Oahu Bowl, a postseason college football game. The university described it as the biggest single-season turnaround in college football at the time. Over nine seasons, he compiled 76 victories and 41 defeats, becoming Hawaii’s most successful head coach by wins. In 2007, the team won all 12 regular-season games, captured the Western Athletic Conference title outright and reached the Sugar Bowl. His teams appeared in six bowls and won four, with conference titles in 1999 and 2007.[1]
A second college rebuild followed in Texas
After Hawaii, Jones became head coach at Southern Methodist University (SMU), a Texas university, in 2008. The Mustangs won once and lost 11 games in his first season, then won bowl games in each of the next two seasons. SMU credited him with ending a 25-year absence from bowl appearances and taking the team to four consecutive bowls. He stepped down two games into the 2014 season. At Hawaii, his former quarterback Timmy Chang became head coach in 2022 and said Jones continued supporting him through that transition. Fellow quarterback Colt Brennan was a Heisman Trophy finalist in 2007. Hawaii said memorial arrangements would be announced later.[1], [2]
